Campaign Academy youth at City Hall for the APA Heritage Month celebration

San Francisco’s annual official celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month took place on May 1, 2017 with the theme “Bringing Communities Together”. We are proud that our Campaign Academy received the APA Heritage Award for program impact for youth leadership development!

Founded in 2006, Chinatown CDC’s Campaign Academy’s goal is to enable youth to emerge as powerful and engaged leaders who will bring about positive social changes towards building communities and enhancing the quality of life for San Francisco residents. The Academy provides 10 Asian American youth, ages 14-17, with comprehensive training and experience in organizing multi-coalition, citywide campaigns that involve positive peer education and interaction with community stakeholders.

The program is entirely peer-led and participants select the issue they will focus on and develop strategies. This work is augmented by a comprehensive curriculum of workshops, trainings and focused retreats conducted by Chinatown CDC staff and Academy graduates.

Academy youth have provided leadership in a number of issues including “Free Muni for Youth” that resulted in the allocation of over $10 million in resources toward bus transportation for low-income youth. Other successful advocacy efforts included installation of a full pedestrian scramble at the intersection of Clay and Kearny Streets; promoting the City’s Vison Zero campaign by creating bilingual pedestrian safety messages; advocating for healthier school lunches with the addition of salad bars in cafeterias and securing the establishment of an Ethnic Studies Program in the SFUSD.

Since the Academy’s inception, over 65 youths have graduated from the program and in the past five years, every participant pursued higher education.